I saw the show when it passed through Dallas late that year, and it was just tremendous – certainly one of the best concerts I have ever seen, but then again I have a smaller pool to choose from than does Mike.

Like Mike, I was sure it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. But with the announcement earlier this year of the 2012 North American Tour, I “have to go back.”

This time, I’m traveling down to Austin to see it in early May, and then visiting my home town of Louisville, Kentucky to see it again in June.

Good times.

Hawaiian pop culture podcast Popspotting featured Katzenjammer in their Feedback Friday edition this weekend – you can hear or download the show here. Aloha!……

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964587/

However, it’s not done in a trashy way. Emily’s plan is really well thought out and it’s one of the things that drew me into the show. At first you’re really rooting for her to win, but then there are a few story elements that show just how cold and calculating she really is, which then make you question if what she’s doing is really right.

Just when I think they couldn’t do any more with the show . . . they do find something else that’ll make you go “WHAT THE HECK!?!” I’ve stop trying to guess what’ll happen and am just having fun seeing what happens next.

Love you guys!

Keep up the good work.

Dave Nelson (TheInterDave)

Great thoughts on both Once Upon a Time and American Horror Story.

Though I wasn’t able to keep up with your two previous AHS podcasts, I did manage to finish off the season before this week’s show. Like yourselves I was definitely caught up in the last few episodes of the season. One of the things I liked about the show was that after a while it wasn’t really about the horror aspect and more about the people and characters in the house and their interactions. I’m also excited to see what the creators have in store for next season. I read that EW article you mentioned, and I just love the fact that they’re going to make every season different and revolve around a different location and theme, and with potentially some of the same cast members. I think it’s a really refreshing take to have for a show and definitely look forward to what they have in store for next season.

On the Once Upon a Time front, I did have one point of contention with you guys saying the show is taking too many elements from LOST. Isn’t LOST inherently in the show’s DNA since the characters don’t know that they’re fairy tale characters? Maybe I misinterpreted what you guys said, but as far as the flashbacks and characters “waking up” go, seeing what happens when they realize their origins and memories and how that is dealt with was going to have to come up eventually. In any case I think the show is great and definitely got sucked in after the first couple of episodes.

I read the books and saw the Swedish versions. In my opinion the Fincher version was far more faithful to the book which is why I liked it better than the Swedish one. Yes there were some things left out such as his relationship with Cecilia but I don’t think it was of much consequence to the overall story so I see why they didn’t include it in either version. One thing that I wonder is why they changed the Harriet storyline in the end from what it actually is. And unless I missed something,  they also never reveal in the Fincher version that it was Harriet sending Henrik the paintings all this time. If I had not already been familiar with the material I would have wondered where they were coming from.

Overall though I loved the movie and I really hope they get to make the other two. Crossing my fingers for a golden globe win for Rooney Mara to keep the buzz going.

By the way, if you’d like a podcast about this great TV show, may I recommend my Once Upon a Time podcast?

#2 – Fruitcake – The Superions – Downloaded this song for free at Amazon.com. This is the Christmas song about the recurring fruitcake that no one wants… sounds like it could have been a great hit if The B-52s recorded it.
 
#1 – You’re All I Want For Christmas – Caro Emerald and Brooke Benton – For me this is a brand new Christmas song that was as far as I know done by Brooke Benton who died years ago. In this version the song is brought up to date with new instrumentation and Caro Emerald sharing lead vocals with Brooke on this otherwise unknown chestnut (to me). Great production and Caro does a great solo video version of this here:
 
http://youtu.be/tdnnK6vnzCs
 
Unfortunately the recording does not seem to be available in the U.S. market. It’s on an album called “Christmas Duets” compilation.

I LOVE “O Holy Night,” and Willie K’s version, but I still cannot stop laughing over the “Michael Buble Christmas Duets” sketch from Saturday Night Live, where Buble tries to sing “O Holy Night” with Scotty McCreery of American Idol… portrayed, to epic low-singing effect, by one of SNL’s newer featured players. Brilliant.

I love your show.  You
guys never cease to amaze me on your knowledge of pop culture.  I really enjoyed your show on Broadway
musicals.

For two people who claim not to be experts, you certainly know your Broadway
musicals!  I, too, have always had a great love for Broadway
musicals.  It all started for me in 1975 when my mother took me to see
Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.  That same year, I saw Led Zeppelin in
concert and for the past 35+ years I’ve been immersed in rock and roll, going
to concerts and collecting music (first on LPs, then cassettes, then CDs and
now digitally).  But I’ve always also
loved Broadway musicals.  I’ve been lucky
over the years to see some great shows, and the last few years, my wife and I
have had season tickets to the Broadway series here in Richmond, Virginia. 

Les Miz is my all time favorite.  I’ve seen it a handful of times and never
tire of it.  For many years when our kids
were young we used to drive to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for family
vacations.  The drive took about 3 hours
and I would always play Les Miz for the ride there.  I would press ‘play’ when we left our
driveway and it would end just about the time we were crossing the intercoastal
waterway into Kitty Hawk.  When the kids
were very young, there are a few parts that we used to lower the volume
(prostitutes, child deaths), but they grew up knowing the music and I’m glad we
exposed them to it.

Some other favorites that I’ve seen over the years are
Phantom, Chicago, Wicked, Rent, Beatlemania, Tommy, Avenue Q, and of course
Jesus Christ Superstar.  The Jesus Christ
Superstar soundtrack is one I’ve listened to pretty consistently over the
years.  It’s a great rock and roll album.

Last December we saw the wonderful duo of Kristen Chenoweth and
Sean Hayes in Promise, Promises, which was really amazing.  This summer we saw Jersey Boys and it blew me
away.  I didn’t realize how many Frankie
Valli and the Four Seasons songs I knew! 
And loved!  Great stuff.  That’s another soundtrack that I’ve been
listening to pretty regularly.

I’ve never seen Miss Saigon, but I love the soundtrack.  I hear it’s playing in Philadelphia and am
considering going to see it there.  I’m
looking forward to seeing South Pacific next weekend here in Virginia, especially
after visiting Kauai and spending time in and around Hanalei Bay.  As a matter of fact, we’re going to watch the
movie this weekend to re-familiarize ourselves with the music.

One last note:  About
10 years ago we saw Cats on Broadway and we were in the minority in that we
didn’t think it was that great.  We even
fell asleep!  Oh well, either we were
just WAY TOO tired that day or it just didn’t grab us.

Keep up the great work, I love the show!

Best Regards,

Mike R.

Mike.in.VA@Comcast.net

Gonna try and check out the first few episodes sometime this week. I’ll keep you posted.

Sorry to go all conspiracy-y on you. I tend to do that with JJ Abrahms’ shows.

Based on the previews, episode 8, which will be broadcast on January 13, 2012, looked appropriately mythology-heavy for a split season-ender, but the World Series ran a day late because of a rainout, thus bumping Fringe back a week. 

FOX was committed to airing no “Fringe” episodes after last Friday, so here we are, with a nice MOTW episode, but a somewhat ho-hum fall finale.

1. Band on the Run – Paul McCartney & Wings (charted in 1974; went to #1 – off the album of the same name; probably the best McCartney song ever since The Beatles).
 
2. Bennie & the Jets / Harmony – Elton John (2 sides of this 45 are great both songs from his album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” which came out in late 1973.
 
3. The Air That I Breathe – The Hollies (see above)
 
4. Gotta Get Away – Cecilio & Kapono (this was actually issued on a 45 by Columbia and was the lead off single of the then new “Cecilio & Kapono” album; Runner up “Sunflower”.
 
5. The Joker – Steve Miller Band – went to #1 early that year.
 
My runner ups besides the ones you both mentioned would also include “When Will I See You Again” by the Three Degrees; “T.S.O.P.” by MFSB (with the Three Degrees singing the end vocals; but mostly an instrumental track); “I’ve Got the Music In Me” by the Kiki Dee Band; “The Night Chicago Died” by Paper Lace; and “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman Turner Overdrive.
 

Jim Rash – you may know him as Dean Pelton from Greendale Community College – has a screenplay credit for “The Descendants.” 

It’s been quite week for him, with his featured role in this week’s “Community” along with the really good buzz that the movie is getting.

At least, I hope they’re not.

Nineteen Hunded and Eighty-Five – Paul McCartney and Wings
Tell Me Something Good – Rufus
Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding – Elton John
(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long - Chicago

If you don’t move to Rufus and Chaka Kahn on the soul hit, you’re dead.  The Wings song reminds me of Baba O’Reilly, the Who hit that I list in my top 10 of all time, in the way that it builds to a brilliant climax.

The entire Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album was both an artistic and popular blockbuster for good reason; 5 classic hits continue to be heard regularly 37 years later.  Early Chicago is a personal guilty pleasure.

Here are my five favorite songs of 1974 – not all of which charted at number one – in no particular order:

(1) Band on the Run – Paul McCartney and Wings
(2) Waterloo – ABBA
(3) Radar Love – Golden Earring
(4) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
(5) Taking Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive

And as a bonus pick, I want to echo Ryan’s affection for The Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe.” 

While listening to the song’s excerpt on the podcast, I was surprised to find out how much it affected me emotionally – I guess it always did, but I had forgotten. It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful song, and hearing it this morning moved me to head straight to Amazon to buy a Hollies anthology CD.  

I have dropped Dexter, lost interest in person of and am barely holding on to Terra Nova (because the kids like it and Jason Omara is that cute!). Glee still holds some charm but otherwise this is the bleakest Fall season in along time.

http://i56.tinypic.com/2mn3ywl.jpg

As for the tsunami museum being in a tsunami inundation zone, that’s also true of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center!

I don’t spend much time on Craigslist, apart from reading the ‘best of’ collections and randomly stopping by ‘missed connections’ out of perverse curiosity.

Quite right, P.S. Hoffman was in “Boogie Nights”! He was Scottie, who was in love with Dirk.

Monsoon Wedding is pretty fantastic, though. I think it’s one of the most truly romantic movies around.

Which reminds me – and I had to wonder, because I haven’t watched it yet in full – wasn’t PSH also in Boogie Nights?

I’ll be keeping an eye out for Ready Player One over here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macprohawaii/

You can spend a whole day, possibly more, exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Stay in a vacation rental nearby, getting away from it all in the rainforest. And after visiting the orchid farm on your drive north, spend time in Hilo, a sleepy, slow…

Cum On Feel The Noize – Bran Van 3000
Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Do Ya Think I’m Sexy – Revolting Cocks
Too Drunk to F*ck – Nouvelle Vague
Gone Daddy Gone – Gnarls Barkley
Satisfaction – Devo
Pipeline – Anthrax
Common People – William Shatner
The Man Who Sold The World – Nirvana
Creep – bootleg Cure cover
Please Let Me Get What I Want – Weezer
Bang A Gong – Power Station

These are the ones that typically end up in my playlists, along with the Dolly Parton cover of `Stairway’ already mentioned.

Nouvelle Vague has a ton of brilliant covers – I also quite like their version of `Blue Monday’ and `I Melt With You’.

You can also find bluegrass covers of just about anything.  I haven’t found one that I liked yet, though.

Thanks for the show – I’ve been a fan since The Transmission, and I look forward to your reviews, especially the Wildcard Wednesdays.

Steeeevil

You guys already have full time jobs, no budget and planned to produce more media minutes than the Daily Show. Relax.  We’ll be there, and we definately don’t want you guys to burn out – you guys have lightning in a bottle right now. 

And Ryan, “best of” podcasts are a good idea when you know your audience is missing shows occasionally.  If we don’t want to hear a repeat, that’s what the “next podcast” button is for.

Your podcast listening schedule is a lot like mine. I do focus on the daily shows, then use weekly, longer shows to fill whatever time I have the rest of the day. This is, of course, why I wanted to do a daily show. I did have to chuckle when one of my daily inspirations, though (“The Daily Giz Wiz”) suddenly declared them to be untenable and went to weekly the same month we launched.

You’re right, the 3-1 setup does allow for flexibility to wrap around major holidays and family stuff, so that’s probably the way we’ll go.
I really appreciate the “long comment,” and overall it’s just really… heartening to see that I wasn’t crazy to think this question mattered to people. We’ve always felt especially close to our listeners, and this almost indulgent conversation is proving that the feeling of family is justified.

We can’t consume pop culture as fast as we’d like, and we’re often flying by the seat of our pants when a sick kid or weekend event throws a wrench into our plans. So we just want to make sure we leave some breathing room and make sure our wonderful listeners don’t give up on us in the mean time.Thanks for listening, and for thinking of us. As for a Jobs tribute, probably not. We are an Apple family and of course produce our podcast with Apple equipment, so that’s tribute enough, I hope!

We love that we’ve turned a few folks onto “Fringe,” when we once thought everyone was already watching. It’s a top show for us, for sure.

First I wanted to comment on something one of your emailers mentioned in this Feedback Friday episode. I think it was Rashmi in Perth that talked about Bollywood films and I just wanted to chime in and say that one of the films she briefly mentioned, Delhi Belly, is actually going to be playing at HIFF this Friday. http://www.hiff.org/program/films/detail/dehli_belly_2011 Not sure if you guys will be able to make it (or myself for that matter), but thought it was mentioning due to the coinciding of the reference in the Friday episode, and of HIFF starting up this week.

As for how I digest your guys’ podcast . . . I generally listen to you guys in my car the day after the episode “airs.” I have three daily podcasts I listen to weekdaily (the other 2 are ESPN shows) and I usually make sure to listen to the daily ones as they air so that those don’t back up. I generally push other weekly or stand alone podcasts back since I can catch up with those over the course of a week. Also, if I need to sacrifice other movie podcasts to listen to my daily ones, well, the world won’t end if that happens.

In regards to the show schedule and breaks, I kind of lean towards the “1 week off 3 week on” formula more than the “seasonal” schedule. Like others have mentioned, its mainly due to the frequently aspect. Then again, I may be one of those in the minority that listen to you guys relatively quickly after a new episode airs. I also think this format lends more favorable to holiday breaks as well. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up and I definitely don’t expect you guys to give up your holidays for the podcast. So, a 1 or two week break around that definitely fits with the “1 off 3 on” format.

Sorry for the long comment, but you got a great podcast and I just want to help provide feedback to make it easier for you and better for us all.

Thanks so much for the podcast, I’ve really enjoyed listening. And thanks again for turning me on to Fringe.  I just finished season 1 (loved it!), and hopefully will get through season 2 in the next couple weeks.  I’m hoping to catch up to season 4 before it ends.

For me, Stitcher’s startup music might as well be the cool bass line of Popspotting’s theme.  You guys are on the top of my queue.

Are you guys planning a Jobs tribute?

Alternate weeks? That’d be a pretty leisurely pace. Don’t think it’d be quite enough, though.Thanks for your thoughts. Dedicated listeners like you mean the world to us.

Trust us, we’d keep going nonstop if we could. This is perhaps our reluctant admission that we probably can’t.

As I mentioned, ‘seasons’ seemed to be Jen’s preference, but I think longer breaks are also going to be hard. It’s a lot of momentum lost, and I know for sure it would actually be harder to get up to speed again!

I’m leaning toward a week off a month. True, a friend emailed to say that frequent breaks may mean more time spent ‘catching up,’ but I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing. One of a few reasons why next week seems precarious is that we haven’t found the time to watch the rest of the TV we want to talk about. We record on both Saturday and Sunday nights, and with work and the kids, primetime viewing is hard to come by!

It does help a lot to hear how you listen to our show, though, and how you catch up. And it means a lot that you cared enough to chime in, when this is really a pretty silly “problem” to ask for help with. We really do appreciate it!

Thanks for all the TV talk. My DVR is going crazy these days!

Love the show, keep up the good work.

As another idea, you could do a rotation of 3 shows / 2 shows week by week (for example M/W/F shows one week and T/Th shows the next week), so that you are doing a complete week’s worth of shows every two weeks…  Just a thought…

I am for 3 weeks on 1 off. I would really miss y’all if you did seasons on and off. Or 1st and 3rd weeks on 2nd and forth off.

One of my favorite albums from last year was Reneé Fleming’s “Dark Hope”. Fleming is an opera singer, but she manages to curb that classical training on this album, which consists mostly of indie rock covers. I think I’ve listened to her version of “Intervention” more than the Arcade Fire’s original. The backing music on “Dark Hope” isn’t really compelling, but Fleming’s voice is really the draw.

Frente’s cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle” has always struck me as too twee. I think that acoustic arrangement might have worked really well with a singer with a huskier voice. I’m no fan of anything Sarah McLachlan did after her debut album, but I’ll give credit to her version of “Dear God” for sounding pretty apocalyptic.

One Japanese artist who does great covers is ACO. She brought out the symphonic aspects of Radiohead’s “Creep” and managed to put a beat on Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” without making it sound awkward. She’s also savvy enough to cover “I Know What Boys Like” by the Waitresses.

And I love your picks for best covers – what a great selection

Here are some of my faves:
“Stairway to Heaven” by Dolly Parton (orig. Led Zeppelin) – a beautiful version of this song with Dolly’s amazing voice and bluegrass guitar in the background

“I Will Survive” by Cake (orig. Gloria Gaynor) – puts an alternative guitar-driven twist on an old disco classic

“Iron Man” by The Cardigans (orig. Black Sabbath) – when I first heard this I found myself singing along to the lyrics but could not figure out what the song was as it’s such a different arrangement,  slow and atmospheric with singer Nina Persson’s sweet voice

“Heartbeats” by Jose Gonzalez (orig. The Knife) — many people assume this is the original as it’s better known from the Sony Bravia ad with the balls bouncing down the streets of San Francisco but it was originally recorded by a Swedish electronica band

“Temptation” by Moby (orig. New Order) – slow, dreamy and gorgeous

“Dancing with Myself” by Nouvelle Vague (orig. Billy Idol) – this version sounds like it’s being sung in a 1960s French cabaret

But yes, I like the Sundays cover (and cover).  And would violinist Vanessa Mae’s music be considered a cover?

…and yes, I’m kidding.

This cover is a GREAT country music track with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. The track was issued on a 45 as the B-side to the single “Yesterday” in 1965 where it is sometimes listed as a double sided #1 hit for The Beatles. It also appears on the “Help!” album.
 
One of my favorite Beatles cover songs is “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by Elton John. This version went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1974 and may be somewhat more popular than the original that only appeared on The Beatles own “Sgt. Peppers’ Lonely Hearts Club Band” album in 1967 but never issued as a single.
 
You could do an entire show of Beatles covers. That would be interesting. The list is endless!
 
My final cover for now is “Blockbuster” by Material Issue. This band is well known for their power pop hit “Valerie Loves Me” which came out in 1991. They were one of my favorite bands of the 1990s and issued several singles and albums focusing on the girls who were out of reach or got away. Jim Ellison was the brilliant lead singer, song writer and guitarist of the group. He probably got a lot of inspiration from British rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s. 
 
Covering The Sweet’s 1973 hit “Blockbuster” is not surprising. They pay homage to this glam rock gem with more energy than of the the original. This is my favorite cover by Material Issue. They also covered The Sweet’s top 10 hit “Little Willy”, The Hollies 1966 hit “Bus Stop”, Grand Funk Railroad’s 1975 single “Bad Time” and the old Banana Splits TV show theme song, “Tra La La”.
 
Sadly Material Issue’s tenure as a power pop band came to an end with the tragic death of Jim Ellison in 1996.

MEL
 

So, yeah, definitely Singles and Almost Famous. And Fast Times at Ridgemont High, too (saw it on TV once; pretty gut-wrenching for a teen movie, even with topless Phoebe Cates)… unless you want to throw Vanilla Sky in there, just for laughs. 

In the version of the song for the movie soundtrack, the line “I see the doorway / to a thousand churches” was removed.  I would love to hear your thoughts about this (or if you even noticed it).  To me, it insults the audience — there is something spiritual about Lloyd and Diane’s relationship and to strike out that note of spirituality at that moment seems wrong.  I have also seen interpretations of this song that make it out to be much more about a person’s relationship with God rather than a relationship with another person.  If this is the intent of the song, then the “churches” line provides an interesting clue that obviously the movie producers needed to remove from it for the scene to work.

In any event, I always notice the absence of the line when I listen to the soundtrack CD.

Just wanted to thank you guys for giving my blog a shoutout in this episode. If you haven’t heard, that’s not the only HIFF event Giacchino will be participating in. Before the Super 8 screening, he’ll also be apart of a roundtable discussion with other composers. That’s at 1pm on Saturday, October 15 http://www.hiff.org/program/films/detail/behind_the_scenes_a_roundtable_2011. That roundtable is actually a free event.

Finally, about a week or two ago Jen mentioned that she was reading “Ready Player One.” The premise of the book intrigued me and I definitely want to read it. But, I found this blog post where someone created a soundtrack for the book by listing songs that are referenced in the book. Thought you might be interested: http://www.ernestcline.com/blog/2011/09/21/the-official-ready-player-one-soundtrack/

I think the most off the wall movies of John Hughes and John Cusack are “Weird Science” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” respectively.

“Weird”, while on its face more a standard teen sex comedy than you would normally likely see from John Hughes, (and I suppose it does have its moments of enjoyable titilation). But at its heart it’s more like another odd, enjoyable flick – “Real Genius” – which are both stories of smart kids trying to adjust into the adult world through the lens of their brave new world, a world of women out of their reach, of new understanding of where they stand in new social world, of creating their own forms of family as their parents are no longer the key authorities in their lives.  Weird Science despite having broad comedy and slapstick throughout has interesting undertones of sweetness and real friendship:  Kelly LeBrock ends up as much a guidance counseller and prankster genie as a MILF Bride of Frankenstein and evil brother Chet learns to respect his younger sibling.

“Midnight” is the adult side of the same coin.  Sultry and eccentric Savannah is the playground for Jim Williams, Lady Chablis, and John Cusack’s journalist character as our guide, and getting our wishes fulfilled is more dangerous because real lives are affected by our dreams and desires becoming reality.   People get killed, or go to jail, or at least have to suffer the indignaties of being a social outcast based on living a life less chosen.  But despite the seriousness of the plots main events, its a playful film, one in which (the real world) Chablis is a delightful and charismatic presence, and Spacey’s Williams is a charming rogue, and voodoo might be real.  The moral of this world seems to be, you can create your own world if you are willing to pay the price
.
Cusack is a quiet and amiable presence in this movie, different for him but successful since the plot needed a real world lens for us to look through the sometimes fanciful events, It reminds me of his more silly role in “Better off Dead”, a deadpan everyman who remarks upon the odd friends and unusual events he happens upon.

Both movies had effective pop soundtracks.  Oingo Boingo’s catchy title song highlighted a 80′s cavalcade of “stars” (OMD, Wall of Voodoo, Los Lobos, Kim Wilde) and “Midnight”had director Clint Eastwood’s now customarily quirky soundtrack, mainly populated with Johnny Mercer favorites, appropriate both in tone and the locale of Savannah’s native son.

Neither of these flicks were the best of the Johns (Hughes and Cusack) but both are quirky, take a few chances, bring a smile to my face each time I watch them, and take somevery good actors to interesting places where they can stretch their wings a bit. 

Both recommended.

As for “Free Agents”?  It just keeps getting better and better.  I think they are following Ryan’s advice…  focus on the workplace and have the relationship-thingie in the background…

Now, what did y’all think of Modern Family and the Middle?

By the way, LOVE this format…

Unfortunately, “2 Broke Girls” did not deliver on the perceived promise of the last couple of minutes, and so I am out. Alan Sepinwall’s review pretty much sums up my feelings on the show: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/2-broke-girls-and-the-break-up-scene-slumber-party.

Regarding “Ringer,” I found myself so bored in the middle of episode 2 that I didn’t even complete it. The acting throughout – even Sarah Michelle Gellar’s – is flat and wooden, the color palette is washed out and unappealing, and I simply have too many other series I’m interested in watching that mean more to me than does this show. “Ringer” is now dead to me.

Thanks!

If you like John Hodgeman, might I suggest a podcast with another Daily Show guy… “The Bugle – Audio Newspaper For A Visual World” at http://www.thebuglepodcast.com/.  It’s got John Oliver and his companion in comedic arms Andy Zaltzman.  It’s not one I’d play around the kids, but quite funny.

- My favorite track on the Reality Bites soundtrack is “Tempted ’94″ by Squeeze, which is basically the band re-recording “Tempted” for the movie.  And the mention of Reality Bites also reminded me of another Gen-X movie with a great soundtrack: Singles by Cameron Crowe, who also compiles great soundtracks for his movies (Say Anything, Almost Famous, and Vanilla Sky to name a few). 

- The second season of White Collar, in my opinion, is better than the first. And yes, yes, YES to Modern Family! 

These are some of my recommendations for you, but to my friends here at home I always suggest Popspotting. Thanks for a truly terrific daily!

“From the Makers of Medium” is not an endorsement in my book, but the pilot of A Gifted Man directed by Jonathan Demme really got me interested in how the rest of the story plays out. Also, Mike Doyle from Law & Order SVU is supposed to play a recurring character on the show, so I must, MUST tune in for that.

Revenge strikes me as rather sudsy, something more akin for the CW than for ABC. But I may stick with it for a few more episodes. It has the potential to turn really dark.

Prime Suspect — I never watched the original with Helen Mirren, but judging from what I’ve seen of the US pilot, Maria Bello’s character is no supercop (see Rizolli and Isles, Castle.) First episode, and she gets her butt kicked.

I have TiVo grabbing a repeat airing of Person of Interest. We’ll see how that goes.

Put a big smile on my face to hear Ryan mention Hackers.  Watched that flick quite a bit.  Snicker every time they “hack the Gibson” because flying around in a magical 3D space when looking for computer files was SO realistic.  And RISC is good. /snicker

Anyway my guilty pleasure film and awesome soundtrack has to be Tank Girl.  Don’t know why I like that crazy flick so much… though Jet Girl rocks.  The soundtrack had a quirky mix of techno, Bjork, and stranger things… had it on repeat for years.

Come to think of it, Moth and Sporkful are the only two podcasts I listen to on a regular basis, to the point where I’ve neglected This American Life and iTunes’ Celebrity Playlist Podcast. Heee! 

A couple of favorites that have not been mentioned: 

- Tarantino movies always have the best soundtracks, so it follows that my second-favorite QT film soundtrack is Jackie Brown. I bought this on CD as soon as it came out – before I saw the movie, even – and I just love all of the ’70s soul tracks on it, especially “Across 110th Street” (which plays in the background of the opening credits) and “Strawberry Letter 23.” Plus: The young Pam Grier sings! 

(Which reminds me: There’s a video on YouTube of a JB outtake where Pam “surfs” the people-mover from the opening scene to the tune of “Misirlou.” Pretty funny.) 

- I’ve already mentioned “Go” here as one of my favorite LA movies, and part of the reason why I love this film so much is due to the soundtrack. It’s a compendium of mid-’90s pop, but some of the artists here released their best songs for this album: No Doubt (“New”), BT (“Believer”), Natalie Imbruglia (“Troubled By The Way We Came Together”), and Eagle Eye Cherry (“Shooting Up in Vain”). I have a few quibbles with the tracklist – they left out Massive Attack’s “Angel” in favor of that cheesetastic “Steal My Sunshine” song, and WTF is up with the remix of “Magic Carpet Ride”? – but other than that it’s worth a listen. 

- And yes, yes, YES on the John Hughes soundtracks! “Pretty in Pink,” in particular, had the best compilation of songs. (Unfortunately for me, I didn’t like that movie as much as “The Breakfast Club” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Still and all.) 

Thanks for the ’2 Broke Girls” take and the link to “Ringer” (which we missed). A pity we have to wait for October for some of the most interesting stuff!

I just listened to Popspotting #132 and wanted to offer a few comments and clarifications.

NBC’s “The Playboy Club” did not premiere over the past weekend. In fact, it first aired last night (Monday). I agree with you that of the two “Mad Men” wannabes on the broadcast networks, I’m more interested in “Pan Am.”The memory retention abilities of Poppy Montgomery’s character in “Unforgettable” are based in part on those of Marilu Henner – whom you probably remember from the old sitcom “Taxi.” Henner was featured in a “60 Minutes” interview last year, in which it was revealed that she has the ability to remember every day of her life. More at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/20/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main7167813 .When you mentioned both “Unforgettable” and “New Girl,” you referred to the premieres of each as having occurred “yesterday.” Given that this podcast is dated Tuesday, September 20, the actual date of each of each show’s first airing, I’m afraid that may confuse your listeners and lead them to miss tonight’s premieres.I watched the premiere of “Ringer” last week, which you can still catch on The CW’s website (http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ringer/?tab=2). It was okay – not great – but I’m willing to give it a couple of episodes before I make a final decision about the show. The pilot for “2 Broke Girls” was pretty bad – until the last two minutes, when the two main characters stopped being sitcom cliches and began interacting more like real people. Both leads are very appealing, and I’m going to keep watching this one.Like you, I’m also very intrigued by “Once Upon a Time,” the trailers for it are incredibly compelling.Thanks!

There’s a lovely easter egg from Breathed in a lovely little movie called Secondhand Lions.  Set aside a couple of hours for a memorable tail… er…tale!

I would have included “Valley Girl” for an amazing 80s soundtrack featuring the Plimsouls, Men at Work, Psychedelic Furs, Modern English, Sparks, Josie Cotton. Definitely one of the best 80s soundtracks – and from an actual 80s film

Another great soundtrack is from a little-seen film from 1998 called “Next Stop Wonderland” starring Hope Davis and Philip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Brad Anderson who has directed numerous episodes of “Fringe”. The soundtrack is 60s Brazilian bossa nova music – some original, some remakes – with classics like Mas Que Nada, Corcovado, Batuacada, Girl from Ipanema

And I can’t believe nobody included a John Hughes soundtrack like the “Pretty in Pink” soundtrack with 80s classics like New Order (Shellshock), OMD (If you Leave), Psychedelic Furs (Pretty in Pink), Echo and the Bunnymen (Bring on the Dancing Horses) and the Smiths (Please, Please, Please Let me Get What I Want)

I was hoping to hear “High Fidelity” mentioned, but “Grosse Pointe Blank” is the better soundtrack of the two John Cusack movies.

It’s too bad “Romeo + Juliet” got cut — that’s one soundtrack I wore pretty thin when it came out.

Not a movie soundtrack, but the second volume of the “Friday Night Lights” television soundtrack is really good. It feels like a mixed CD compiled by a close friend, while still evoking the mood of the show.

I am a few days behind on my podcasts, as usual, but I am looking forward to hearing Ryan and Jen talk about one of my favorite shows. I also watched the original series, several times over (no on-demand viewing options back then, just broadcast reruns). For extra credit, I suffered through Galactica 1980, when they actually (spoiler alert)… ah, never mind.

BTW, one of my strongest impressions from season one of BSG is that whenever Number Six (Tricia Helfer) showed up in Baltar’s thoughts, hallucinations, whatever, I was ready to jump out of my skin. She sure knows how to act scary enough to distract you from that dress!

I enjoyed the mini-series, but hadn’t really made up my mind on how I felt about it. At the time, humanoid Cylons seemed to not be that novel (there’s a lot of TV shows where alien critters end up passing as human), but Gaius Baltar was such a phenomenal character, especially in contrast to the cartoony villainous Baltar in the first series.

I was often impressed by the big chances that were taken, the complicated story arcs, the huge ensemble cast. And there were great science fiction concepts at play, like the fact that thanks to the ressurrection technology, the Cylons just got better and better with each defeat offering an experience to improve from.

I could literally go on and on about the underlying human/Cylon cycle that was the undercurrent to the series (just ask my wife if I’m lying…) but I’ll spare you all that.

For the record, although the finale let the door wide open on dissatisfaction, I was reasonable content with how things played out, and like Lost, I used my imagination to put some pieces together that gave me a kind of answer on what the big picture was, and what might have been driving things behind the scenes.

One other thing, I thought it was brilliant that although we got a Cylon point of view from the humanoid organic Cylons, we never got the point of view from the mechanical Cylons. There was a great scene in the last season where Baltar, with no one else to talk to, has a lengthy monologue with one of the Cylon centurions on hand. At that moment, I really was aware of the mute unreadable nature of the metal toasters, and it made me wonder what things they might have been keeping to themselves, even from flesh and blood Cylons.

I haven’t been able to immerse myself into BSG for two reasons.  One, my Netflix account is now kaputt, and I did catch and enjoy the mini series and the first 10 episodes or so.  Two is more problematic.   I respect the Lost resolution but don’t prefer it – it is a Deus ex machina writ large.  If BSG went the same kind of route, I’m not sure I want to invest more time into a frustrating conclusion.   While I understand in both cases perhaps the journey was more important than the goal, I like to have my cake while eating it.   To me, there is a bit of failure of imagination in a creative venture that doesn’t have a more engaging resolution than “It was the will of God”.

A bit of a personal story about BSG.  I was attending Dragon*Con 1999 or 2000 and Richard Hatch was pushing his BSG sequel idea at the time, going to cons and trying to drum up interest from the fans.  I started with a bit of a eye roll (me too Jen, original BSG was good cheese but was definately cheese) but had the opportunity to talk to Hatch personally for a few minutes and by the time we had finished he had me sold.   His ideas and Moore’s didn’t turn out to be way different, although the 9/11 template I think added some serious weight to the new undertaking.  Hatch is an interesting, inteligent and engaging person and I’m glad he got involved in the reboot.

I heard all the buzz about BSG and had watched some of the old version.  But at the time BSG came out, I was so busy and had so many things on my plate, I couldn’t watch.

Well, after hearing all the buzz, I decided to watch the prequel Caprica.  I enjoyed the series and didn’t feel left out.  I HATED that Syfy cancelled it (they really made me mad canceling it and SGU).  That left me wanting more.

Thankfully BBC America (which shows more quality shows than any other network and more scifi as well) is showing two episodes of BSG every Saturday night.  They started from the beginning and I started with them.  They are now in S2 (eps 10-11 air this week).  I have loved the show for all the reasons you mentioned in your podcast.  I’m so happy to get to watch it from the beginning and am trying to stay spoiler free.  I highly respect the military and truly feel apart when watching this show

You mentioned characters so far one that has really impressed me is Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla (played by Kandyse McClure).  I have loved to see her grow in her roll as communications officer.  She has had to deal with military, politics, relationships and so much more.  The last two eps I saw really highlight that (Final Cut and Flight of the Phoenix).

You talked about the soundtrack, and I am a soundtrack nerd.  I have bought both Season 1 and two and particularly enjoy the Celtic themed songs.  I also found out Bear did the Season 1 theme for Human Target, which I loved (the show went down hill in S2 and they removed his song).

As a Christian, I am not a fan of the polytheism and the fact that the “Bad Guys” are the monotheists.  Plus there are other issues that I disagree with.  But it opens doors of conversation and I do appreciate the strong storytelling of the show.

So if you have not watched, watch the mini series, season 1 and 2 on Netflix, and watch the real scifi channel (BBC America) wit the rest of us on Saturday nights!

So Say We All!

I’m also a fan of both White Collar and Burn Notice. I can see where Ryan thinks Jeffrey Donovan’s character on Burn Notice seems stiff — he’s supposed to be this stoic, unflappable spy, so his delivery often sounds deadpan, which is great when he delivers a wisecrack.

But I think White Collar would be more to your taste (collective your). Even though the two main characters work together, they can’t completely trust each other, so there’s always a cat-and-mouse game happening on the side. It’s a bit more cerebral than Burn Notice, which relies probably a bit too much on explosions. (Matt Bomer is also very dreamy.)

Speaking of cat-and-mouse, Death Note is the ultimate chase story. It’s anime, of which you guys probably don’t take in much. The main character, Light, travels the path to hell with good intentions, and his pursuer, L, does some pretty nasty stuff to snare Light in a trap.

Something else I think you might like is Eureka on Syfy. Colin Ferguson has the most amazing comic timing, and while the science may be a bit preposterous, it’s tough not to root for the characters even when they nearly destroy the world every week.

Since you mentioned LA Movies, I might as well bring up my top 5, in no particular order:

- Jackie Brown. My brother used to live close to the Del Amo Fashion Mall, where the big take-down scenes in JB were staged. Watching this movie gives me good memories of cruising around Del Amo with my brother. 

- Ruthless People: Another dark movie I watched when I was 12. I never get tired of watching this; there’s just something about the way this captured the excess of Beverly Hills in the ’80s that amazes me. 

- Go. This reminds me of my Christmases in Southern California. Not so much with the drugs (LOL) but the atmosphere of last-minute shopping and side trips to Vegas, and trying to figure out the best way to have a happy holiday when things go wrong. 

- Die Hard. Christmas in LA, part 2, with Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. Can’t go wrong with that. 

- L.A. Confidential. As much as I loved the other “LA noir” movies – Chinatown and Body Heat stand out, in particular – this one stands out to me, the most, because it’s practically a love letter to film noir in itself. 

I have to recommend a FANTASTIC new book (out in August 2011) that I just recently read entitled “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline.  It is a science-fiction book that is set in 2044 where people spend all of their time plugged into a virtual world (think Facebook gone VR) with a visor and gloves.  They play games, interact, go to school, work, etc. all in this virtual world.  The real world has gone bad (overcrowding, pollution, energy problems), and our protaganist (a 17 year old living in one of these urban environments) spends his days plugged in.

The designer of thir VR world has passed away and left an “Easter Egg” hidden somewhere inside the Virtual World.  The first person to find it will take over his company and become super-rich.  The challenge here, though, is that this designer grew up in the 80s learning to play classic videogames (and listening to 80s music, watching 80s filsm, etc), so to win the game you have to KNOW your 80s trivia.

As a sci-fi novel, this is the perfect blend of future, present and past.  The 80s pastiche was a wonderful addition and made me nostalgic for my youth while the sci-fi element (especially the “it could happen tomorrow” premise) left me breathless.

I’ve seen the novel described as a nerd-gasm.  I can only agree.  Jen (and you too Ryan), you won’t be able to put this one down. 

Read it and enjoy!

Now off to read the next highly anticipated August 2011 release (the Magician King by Lev Grossman, the sequel to his more adult version of the Harry Potter storie, the Magician).

1987, though, is where it’s at. In addition to “Appetite for Destruction”, that year yielded “The Joshua Tree” by U2, “In My Tribe” by 10,000 Maniacs, “The Lion and the Cobra” by Sinéad O’Connor, “Le Mystere de Voix Bulgares” and so, so much more.

You mentioned the Walking Dead, on AMC. I’m very excited to see the second season, I really enjoyed how the first season was presented, which did track very closely with the first Walking Dead graphic novel; albeit with some changes.  It wasn’t perfectly faithful, but neither was it dramatically unfaithful. The show seems to be charting along the same general course as the comic series.

If I can provide some details on if the series should be read, I own several of the graphic novels,  but only had a chance to read the first one. After my wife read the first one, she commandeered the rest since she had to keep reading them.

My wife is not necessarily a fan of zombie or horror stories, but she loves really good stories and is eager for the second season to start up.  I’ve decided not to read ahead of the show, so she and I can watch the new season with her having the expectations from the graphic novels, and me not having any real idea what might be coming next.

Turning back to Game of Thrones, I actually had the first book, unread, for about a decade. It was one of those books that was highly recommended by friends, I picked it up in an airport, but didn’t get a chance to get far into it. Over the years, I had picked it up, put it down, picked it up and started to re-read because I had lost track of all the characters, put it down, then in a frenzy, read the entire book. I suggested that my wife read it as I started in on the second book, Clash of Kings.

My wife is not really a fantasy novel reader, but she tore through Game of Thrones in record time, and would stay up at night reading Clash of Kings while I was asleep.

For weeks (it takes me awhile to get through books) I had to get through her saying to me “what part of you up to? Oh, just you wait… things get crazy. Read faster!”

For A Dance with Dragons (book 5) we ended up getting a hardcopy for me, and a version for her for her kindle.

She finished it a week before I did. A week of “what part of you up to? Oh, just you wait… things get crazy. Read faster!”

Best regards to you both.

So how about some non-fiction titles?

“The Rest Is Noise” by Alex Ross is one book I’ve given as gifts to friends. I really got into it because I love the subject matter — modern classical music — but Ross writes in a way that would make anyone curious about the music he covers.

More of a suggestion for Ryan, but “Managing Humans” by Michael Lopp is an excellent book about management, mostly because it’s funny. I’d almost wager the focus on software engineering won’t interfere with the more general principles Lopp wants to convey.

And another non-fiction recommendation for Jen — “Appetite for Self-Destruction” by Steve Knopper. It’s a comprehensive history on how major labels put themselves in a position to be decimated by the Internet. Far better than Greg Kot’s “Ripped”.

Oh, and here’s a recommendation for the kids (not so much Katie) — “D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths” by Edgar and Ingrid D’Aulaires. I’ve always loved the illustrations in that book.

I think the quality of both stories are similar.  However Russell’s prose from the last third of the book became a bit of a slog for me (based on memory, it’s been 20 years since my last reading of Sparrow).

Finally I was wrong, the Sparrow came out 7 years after the 1989 publication of Owen Meany.  I still content the parallels are superficial – it just led me to draw a conclusion that Jen (and Ryan) might find Sparrow a good read.

I loved Owen Meany also.   Irving’s book The World According to Garp was also an entertaining and intense read.

I know you’re not a big SF fan, but if I had to come up with a book from the last generation or so that has some parallels to Meany in story, pathos, quality and in some cases characters it would be The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.   While not as well written as Irving’s book (this was Russell’s first published), this story of first contact with a truly alien culture by a team of Jesuits is full of surprises and insights.  I think Sparrow predated Meany by a few years, so I think the parallels are interesting but not intentional.

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you get a chance to pick this one up.

I understand what you’re saying about Harry being a convenient exposition device, and I hope you won’t think that I’m arguing with you, I think your point is valid.

But to me, when we see Harry not in flashback, he is literally the Dark Passenger, often he’ll be seen in the front seat with Dexter as he drives. I think it’s important that we see this dark side of Dexter separate from Dex, because I feel that in many ways, Harry really really messed Dexter up. Although there was a great deal of Harry’s code that was necessary for Dexter’s survival, there was a certain amount of “Dexter, you’ll never be normal, Dexter, you’ll never be , well, human, you can’t hope for a better life.”

My wife and I have conversations that center on is Dexter really a monster (well, I guess he is), or is he as bad a monster as Harry thought Dexter could become? Is Dexter irredeemable? The Dark Passenger might say so, but the Dark Passenger’s existence depends on Dexter’s full faith in Harry.

Anyway, that’s why I put Harry up as Dexter’s biggest Nemesis, which really is a cop out on my part, since it’s like saying Dexter is his own biggest enemy.

Thank you again for covering Dexter, and for the podcast in general.

Best regards to you all,

Pat in Maryland

I feel the same way about Saul in “Breaking Bad,” for example. A great character, a great actor, but too easy to fall back on for the “what exactly are we doing here” conversations.

Anyway LIthgow plays a sociopathic hitman that takes it a bit over the top and threatens Travolta’s character after Travolta finds out some hidden details involved in a poltical dirty trick gone bad.   Look for some amazing DePalma direction, some of his best until Mission: Impossible and an odd mix of eclectic acting from the leads.

Ryan and Jen, you might also enjoy this recent interview with David Nevins, the new president of Showtime. There are no real spoilers for any show other than a mention of what eventually happens to Dexter’s S5 “big bad,” which anyone who’s watched the show can figure out: 

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/interview-showtime-president-david-nevins-on-homeland-dexter-weeds-more

Curse you, unforgiving Internet!

I was intrigued by your question on who could be considered a fave Nemesis, and my answer is someone that you omitted from the overall show. Harry Morgan.

Harry is one of my favorite characters on the show, not only as Dexter’s foster dad in flashbacks, but as the avatar of his Dark Passenger, the part of Dexter that wants to kill. I always am fascinated when Dexter has debates with his darker side, who is very resistant to Dexter’s attempts to lead a more genuine normal life (as opposed to have a girlfriend for appearances sake, to better blend in.)

Like you, I’m impressed by Michael C Hall’s layered performances, being the likable but bland exterior Dexter, the insightful, clever, but flat affected inner-monologue Dexter, and the human emotional Dexter that Dexter doesn’t know what to make of.

Best regards to your both,

Pat from Maryland

And what beats them all from a list of neo-noir and is my suggestion for a duet for Movie Monday?  Body Heat and House of Games.  Most have seen the Hurt-Turner potboiler, which is a Double Indemnity variation and practically melts the film it sits on.  House of Games is a Mamet written and directed con within a con movie, perhaps the best of its kind.  Stylish, well writen and complex, its in my top 50 movies.

That’s okay, often times the best a production like this can do, that’s based on a property that has a pretty extensive mythology, is to focus on a core concept and include other bits almost as Easter eggs.

Case in point, when you were researching Cap America after seeing the movie, you might have found references to the Invaders, a WW II “supergroup” fighting the Nazis including Captain America, the Atlantean prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, and a red-suited blond fiery android named the Human Torch (and their various sidekicks.) Although Namor was not in movie (that I noticed…) the Human Torch was. When skinny Steve was at the World’s Fair with doomed Bucky Barnes and the ladies, in the background you can see what appears to be a red-suited blond mannequin in standing motionless in a glass tube.

That was totally the Human Torch.

I’m not necessarily proud that I’m such a geek to know that (or at least, believe that it was there to be a Human Torch reference), but I am pleased that such a detail was part of the movie.

Obviously, in the scope of this movie continuity, Steve Rogers didn’t team with other superbeings to fight in Europe, but that’s okay.

I will say that I’m excited to be seeing the Avengers next year, but I think my ten year old daughter is more excited. I’ve not necessarily been raising her to be a geek like her old man, but she wanted to see the recent Thor movie based entirely on the advertising (my wife wanted to see it because she was surprised by the good reviews.) Thor was a big hit with my family, and when my daughter saw Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as the Odinson, she gleefully pronounced that Thor was even more handsomer than before. Then she gave out a big sigh. And declared the We Were Seeing the Avengers Next Year!

(So you two should see the Thor movie. He’s handsome, according to my daughter. And just getting handsomer.)

Thanks for the additional recommendations. Though I think @twitter-17203:disqus did give that Duran Duran album a listen, and wasn’t a fan.

Can’t say I’m moved by the latest album, “Take Care Take Care Take Care”, but the one before it, “All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone” is stellar.

The second volume of the FNL TV soundtrack also includes W. Snuffy Walden’s Explosions-like theme song, plus a whole bunch of rustic alt-country that I think might appeal to you both.

And from the Musicwhore.org Favorite Edition 2011 list, might I recommend:

– Abigail Washburn, “City of Refuge”. She’s a banjo player in the style of Dr. Ralph Stanley
– The Decemberists, “The King is Dead”. How much more R.E.M. can this band get? None. None more R.E.M.
– Duran Duran, “All You Need Is Now”. Mark Ronson set out to help the band make the follow-up to “Rio” it never recorded, and I think he did it.

Now tell us your Top 5 from 1987.

Led Zeppelin, stairway to heaven

Stevie wonder, superstition

Don McLean, American pie,

Roberta Flack, first time I ever…

Angie, Rolling Stones

I shot the Sheriff, Eric Clapton

Also, Dan Fogelberg,

Enjoyed your recent podcast immensely, especially Alirio’s enthusiasm with being part of a Buffy-watch podcast. It’s not surprising how excited he is since they are now covering season three (if I recall that part of your interview with him correctly), since Buffy seasons two and three are what I consider the Golden Age of Buffy television. (I’m not saying later seasons are bad, I’m just saying seasons 2 and 3 are nearly perfect.)

As always, best regards

Pat from Maryland